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This isn’t my typical blog post. Just wanted to put something on here to explain why many of my photos suddenly disappeared. My file storage limit was reaching its max here on WordPress, so I deleted many of them since I was “done” with them. I didn’t realize it would remove them from my posts. So, if my posts look a little strange at the moment, that’s why. Ooops! I guess I learned my lesson on that one!

♥Miriam

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For Valentine’s Day this year, I gave Dave a jar of “cheap dates”. I got the idea from Pinterest, and he loved it! In the pint jar, there are over a year’s worth of dates for either the two of us to do together, or for us to do as a family. Last week, we took the first of these dates and went to Rita’s for Italian ice. This week’s date simply said, “Go for a drive.” Dave knew what I meant by that, but Katie didn’t have a clue. They both looked at me a bit sceptical of what was to happen. But I was happy! I knew what this could turn into!

At the end of the driveway, Dave says, “So which way do you want to go?” not sounding at all thrilled.

“Go right. Katie, you get to pick which direction we go at the next stop sign,” I said.

I was excited. Katie had no idea what she was about to experience. I thought back to my childhood days when it was a common occurance to jump in the car on a Sunday afternoon and just drive around and look at scenery and other areas you don’t see every day. My Pappy Wingert was a master at the Sunday drive. We’d jump in the car with him and drive for hours. We’d end up miles from home and get home after dark! But we saw places that were interesting and fun! Those Sunday drives were part of my favorite childhood memories. I only hoped that we would come across something interesting today!

We each took turns at stop signs and stop lights choosing which direction we’d go next. I soon realized that I had an advantage when we reached Cove Gap. “Turn right here!” I yelled.

Dave turned the wheel and we started the beginning of an afternoon long history lesson. We were in Buchanan’s Birthplace State Park.

We learned a few things: 1. Katie learned that Buchanan was our 15th president, that he was never married, and that the school that Mommy graduated from was named for him. 2. Dave learned that Buchanan attended Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA, that Buchanan’s Birthplace was the first State Park in Pennsylvania, and that the monument was built in 1907. 3. I learned that Harriet Lane, his niece, purchased the land that became the state park and that this really was the area where Buchanan was born, and that James Buchanan’s mother put a bell on him to hear him in the woods around their cabin!

I told Katie that there used to be a sign at the beginning of the trail to the monument that simply said, “Monument”. I shared with her that my cousins and I once went there for a picnic and decided it would be fun to “be” monuments next to that sign. Well, the sign is gone, but the rock that was there remains. So, Katie decided we should do the same thing. The results are below!

We got back in the car and I whispered to Dave some directions. We were headed to another historical place…Fort Loudon, PA. It was close to supper time, so we stopped for supper at a favorite spot, Milky Way. Mmmmm, was it good!

We finished supper and headed down the road. I was now driving. We drove to the site of Fort Loudon. Katie had no idea about how Fort Loudon got its name or that there was actually a fort there many years ago.

“Mommy, can we go see James Buchanan’s log cabin before we go home?” asked Katie.

“Sure! It’s still daylight!” I said. Then we headed toward Mercersburg Academy. It took me a few minutes to remember what part of the campus the cabin sat on, but we soon found it.

“Cool!” said Katie (and I think she really meant it!).

The sun was setting, and so we decided to head for home.

“This was really fun,” said Katie smiling contentedly. “I hope Daddy pulls this ‘date’ out of the jar again soon.”

Dave and I both had off work today. He had a doctor’s appointment in Mechanicsburg to check the leg he had surgery on a year ago, to see if the vein has disappeared. We decided that on the way, we would stop at Community Aid since it was Wednesday and everything is half price on that day. (If you’ve never been to Community Aid, you should go! It’s like going to Goodwill or a thrift store, except that they have everything marked at 1/2 price on Wednesdays and you can get a whole lot more for your buck!)

Community Aid

We’ve been to Community Aid many times before, but one of the last times we went, we got lost. Why? Because I (yes, me) wasn’t paying attention and missed telling the driver (Dave) where to turn. So today, we decided that wasn’t going to happen again. I had the directions in hand and we were on our way.

We traveled down Route 81 just like we were supposed to. We turned off Exit 59….just according to plan. I was busy chatting with Dave about this and that….something I don’t get to do much when Katie is along. Well….we did it again. We missed Exit 3 after we got off the first exit. “Here we go again!” exclaimed Dave. Ugh!! It was my fault again!! I was running my mouth and not paying attention and we missed it again! We tried to correct ourselves to no avail. Neither Dave or I have a “smart phone” (ours are pretty dumb!) nor do we use GPS. We rely on MapQuest directions (which usually don’t fail us if we’re paying attention!). We turned left, and turned left, and turned left again. We thought for sure this would get us back toward the direction we were going. Nope!!! Next thing we’re seeing is the Susquehanna River in Harrisburg….several miles away from where we needed to be!

Harrisburg, PA as seen from the Susquehanna River

At this point, we figured we were lost long enough. After all, we’d wasted a good hour. It was getting closer to Dave’s doctor’s appointment time and we had some time to make up. We started looking for Route 81 signs and finally found our way back to the highway. This time we were going south, as we had gone too far north!

Dave’s appointment went well, and he was told he didn’t need to come back unless he had a problem! Woohoo! We set out once more after his appointment (actually 15 minutes before Dave’s actual appointment time!) with a goal of getting to Community Aid.

Exit 59 (Again!)

We made it!! We didn’t miss the turn this time!! We did well at Community Aid. After all it was 1/2 price day! How often can you say that you only spent $34 and got a dress, 3 skirts, 2 pairs of kid’s jeans, 2 girls sized shirts, 3 women’s tops, 5 mens shirts and 2 teacups with saucers??? Not often, I’d say! We decided to try going home Route 11 for a change of scenery.

MISTAKE!!!

We were doing fine until we got to Carlisle. We missed the sign for Route 11 and continued “straight” when we should have turned right. We ended up on Route 34 and realized quickly that we weren’t on Route 11 any longer, nor were we going to get to Route 11 from the route we were on! We decided that we would just see where this road would take us! Soon we came to the town of Mount Holly Springs. We then discovered we weren’t far from Gettysburg. Now Gettysburg was a place we knew and we also knew how to get home from there!! The gas gauge started to show signs that we needed to fill up with gas and so we found a gas station and stopped in. “It’s pee pay,” says Dave.

“What!! That’s riduculous!” I said, immediately catching his mistake.

Dave realized at that moment what he’d said. His face turned red as he laughed one of those laughs where no sound comes out but your whole body is shaking and your face disappears in one big squinty grin. Tears squirted out of his eyes. We were “rolling” at the gas pump….we were in hysterics! Dave finally regains his composure and says, “I’ll go PRE-pay for the gas. Do you want a drink or anything?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “I could use a Pepsi or something.”

“Let’s go in and pay for the gas and pick up some Poke or Pepsi,” Dave says.

“Dave, really? Poke?”

“Oh what is the matter with my tongue today?” questioned Dave again starting to laugh! We finally got ourselves calmed down and went inside. It felt good to stretch and get a drink. However, “pee paying” became the joke for the rest of the day!

Finally, Gettysburg came into view. Route 30 was in sight and home not too far away. It had been a long day, but a fun day as we wandered around and around.

I love making memories with this man!! Lost or not, there’s no one else I’d rather be with on an adventure!

My entire town is in a tizzy. They have called for bad weather starting some time tonight. We’re supposed to get snow. No one can pin point down how much we are to actually get. I’ve heard anywhere between 1 inch to 18 inches. I’m not convinced we’re getting anything. After all, it was 53 degrees at one point today.

However, weirder things have happened. I recall one year, about 20 years ago, that it snowed in April. It’s not April yet, so I guess it could happen. Some of our biggest snow storms have actually come in March. I remember in 1996 we had one of the worst snow storms I had ever seen. I had recently moved to a townhouse in Chambersburg, just 4 months before. We had over 2 feet of snow that storm. Even though I worked less than a mile from where I lived, I wasn’t able to go to work for 3 days! On that 3rd day, the office tried to open, and someone came and picked me up because I still couldn’t drive my car. They hadn’t plowed out our parking lot yet. It took us nearly 20 minutes to go 9/10 of a mile to work. We got there and saw two patients who were able to get out in the weather, and then we went back home. It wasn’t even worth trying to go! I ended up missing the next 2 days of work after that, not because of the snow. It was because when we got back from that uneventful opening of the office, they were plowing my parking lot. Under all that snow there was a sheet of ice. My foot found the ice and down I went like a pile of rocks and landed (hard) on my tailbone. Ouch! The next couple of days I could barely tolerate sitting down! Ugh!

So, here we are a few hours before the next big storm and I am amazed how different things are than they were just a few years ago. I remember when I was in school, you would go to school and get dismissed early if it started to snow. Now, here it is, hours before school is to even start, the snow hasn’t even started yet, and all the schools have closed for tomorrow! Really? Is this necessary? What if the storm doesn’t actually come? Will they reinstate school….no. Churches have already cancelled evening services for Wednesday….did I mention that it isn’t doing anything yet? Businesses are already announcing late openings for tomorrow….are they seeing something I can’t? Government offices are on liberal leave….well, they’ll take any excuse not to actually work! And even my own workplace has decided that we’re all working from home tomorrow.

When we dropped Katie off for Kid’s Klub this evening, we heard the usual jokes about getting enough milk, bread and toilet paper to hold us through the storm. David and I decided we didn’t need bread, milk or toilet paper….we’re well supplied at the moment. We were in desperate need of some potato chips though, and so we went to the store. Chips were picked over….perhaps everyone else had the same need. There was still plenty of toilet paper, milk and bread. I think they overstocked to prepare for the madness. I tried so hard not to laugh at the woman in the check out in front of me. She had 2 gallons of milk, 3 dozen eggs and 6 tubs of cream cheese. The guy before her had …you guessed it, milk, bread and toilet paper. The lady behind me had eggs, butter and flour….I think she planned to bake!

I’m ready for whatever comes. I’m prepared to work from home, and if I do work from home, I plan to rise early and get most of my day in before my daughter wakes up. Then, if there’s time left in the day, we’ll watch some movies and munch popcorn, and finish riding out the storm.

Job 37:6 says, “He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’” (NIV). It doesn’t matter much if we want it to snow or not, nor does it matter if we’re ready for it or not. If it’s to happen, God will speak it into being. We’ll survive without milk and bread. After all, doesn’t He also tell us in Matthew 4:4 “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” So, I think I’ll partake of some of His “daily bread” and spend some time in His Word tomorrow as we wait out the storm. Are you adequately prepared for the storms in your life?

Spring brings many things…warmer weather, sweet smelling flowers, new colorful birds at the feeders, and softball. Now, personally, I’m not excited about softball, but I do like going and watching a good game. Fortunately for me, Katie plays softball and looks forward to each practice and game. And Katie is pretty good at it, even if I say so myself. It wasn’t always that way though.

Katie played T-ball first. You just have to love a bunch of 5-7 year-olds running amuck on the field, not really interested at all in the rules or really learning anything. They’re more interested in watching their teammates do weird things with their baseball hat. Dirt becomes a huge fascination as does pulling grass and picking dandelions. One of my favorite moments comes when someone actually hits a ball and the entire outfield goes running for it and wrestles each other to get the ball. In the meantime, the player who hit the ball could have lapped all the bases twice. I think the only purpose of T-ball is to get the kids to learn how to hit the ball. None of them really learns anything in the outfield. Overall, I found T-ball painful to watch between the hilarious moments.

Katie up to bat.

Then she graduated to girl’s minor league slow-pitch softball. Still not really good at it, she tried her hardest. She was the littlest girl on the team. But we soon discovered something…this kid could run, and she could run FAST! Now, if we could just get her to hit the ball.

During her second year of slow-pitch, she got better, much better! This little pipsqueak starting getting people out at third-base and at home plate left and right! She hit her first double, and after that, consistently got on base and would hit doubles. The only thing she wasn’t good at was pitching and this really bothered her. So, since the end of last year’s season, she’s been practicing.

Getting an out at home plate!

Unfortunately, Katie’s team hasn’t done well the past 2 years. Each year at the playoffs, they have bombed out pretty quickly. She has not been a “good loser”. She really needs to do some practicing with that!

Now, in 2 weeks, we’ll get to see what she’s capable of. This year, it’s a new ballgame…fast pitch softball. It’s also a new team, The Flash. And, we have a new coach. Katie is excited about all of it. I’m excited for her. Yes, it’s 3 months or so of running and running and running. But, this is something that makes her happy and so I’m happy for her.

Katie has been trying to keep her skills sharp in the off-season. She is concerned about how well she will do this year. We’ve told her that she just needs to pay attention to what her coach is telling her. She needs to practice her skills. She wants to finish this season well, and hopes that she is on a winning team this time.

In 2 Timothy 2:5 is says, “An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.” (ESV). I think she needs to make this a “theme verse” for her softball season. (A little prayer couldn’t hurt either!)

I recently got this as an email from my aunt and uncle. I thought it was worth sharing! Enjoy! 🙂

♥Miriam

A young lady confidently walked around the room while leading and explaining stress management to an audience with a raised glass of water. Everyone knew she was going to ask the ultimate question, ‘half empty or half full?’… She fooled them all …. “How heavy is this glass of water?” she inquired with a smile.

Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. To 20 oz.

She replied , “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my right arm.

If I hold it for a day, you’ll have to call an ambulance. In each case it’s the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.” She continued, “and that’s the way it is with stress. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won’t be able to carry on.”

“As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we’re refreshed, we can carry on with the burden – holding stress longer and better each time practiced.

So, as early in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down. Don’t carry them through the evening and into the night… Pick them up tomorrow.

1 * Accept the fact that some days you’re the pigeon, and some days you’re the statue!

2 * Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.

3 * Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

4 * Drive carefully… It’s not only cars that can be recalled by their Maker.

5 * If you can’t be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

6 * If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

7 * It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

8 * Never buy a car you can’t push.

9 * Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won’t have a leg to stand on.

10 * Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.

11 * Since it’s the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.

12 * The second mouse gets the cheese.

13 * When everything’s coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.

14 * Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.

16 * Some mistakes are too much fun to make only once.

17 * We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull.
Some have weird names and all are different colors, but they all have to live in
the same box.

18 * A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery
on a detour.

19 * Have an awesome day and know that someone has thought
about you today.

AND MOST
IMPORTANTLY

20 *Save the earth….. It’s the only planet with chocolate!*

(I just noticed that there is no #15. Isn’t it interesting that #16 is about making mistakes? 🙂 ) ♥Miriam

Life in Greencastle
My friend and coworker, Stephanie Ziebarth blogs for the Greencastle Echo Pilot. Enjoy her posts!

Living Proof Ministries
Beth Moore is a fascinating woman! Her biblical insight is refreshing and inspiring. If you ever get the chance to hear her live, do it!

Singing artist, Leslie McKee
Leslie and I worked together for several years as nurses. She left the nursing field to pursue her love of music and the Father and serve God in music ministry. Check out her blog and her beautiful voice!

TranquilaTEA Room
I nice quiet place to relax and visit with friends! Love to visit here!

Tryingnot2blink.com
One of my choir friends, Heidi, has this totally cool blog about being a mom to 4 boys! She’s hilarious! But, at the same time has a lot of great wisdom about taking the time to cherish the little things!